The Story of Cruz Ramirez
by Kudo Yuichi
Summary: Cruz won the Florida 500 and get Lightning as a crew chief for this season. Rusteze is bought by Tex Dinoco, so both of them work on the same roof. But what if, Cruz Ramirez is actually Strip Weathers long lost daughter? But none of them know the fact. Are they gonna know or not? Find it out in here!


A.N : My first one shot! Hope you enjoy this! This is something I just thought of in my mind after I managed to watch the cars 3 in english. :)

 **The Story of Cruz Ramirez**

Cruz is really happy that she won the Florida 500 race. She even happier when she found out that Lightning is going to be her crew chief. She even more happier that she is finally an official racer for Dinoco! But what made her still sad is that the fact that her family didn't enjoy it with her. They even disown her just because she is a racer now.

She didn't tell about her problem to anyone. Not even Lightning. But unbeknownst by her...that some car, took notice of it...

It has been a week after the call from her family, and now, she's been taking a drive at Fireball Beach in the night. Alone. She's been trying to get away from everyone, so no one will notice her sad expression. But one car, followed her to the beach. And when he noticed that she's sniffling, he make his appearance.

"Cruz? You alright?" the car asked. Cruz turned around and see The 'King' standing right there.

"Oh, ehm, Hey there, Mr. The King!... What...are you doing?" Cruz said immediately, trying to hide her sad expression with her wide fake grin. Strip drove closer to her and said...

"I should ask you the same, Cruz. What are you doin' out here alone in the night?" Strip asked. Cruz immediately said...

"No, it's nothing! I just..taking some..nice cold air.. Yeah! That's all" Cruz said, still grinning her fake smile. Strip didn't knew why, but he knew immediately that, that just a fake smile of hers. A fake smile to hide some deep sadness. A sadness that he onced, experienced.

"You know, I once used that kind of smile when...my wife passed away.." Strip said with a sad smile. Cruz knew that her fake smile got blown off, so she dropped the smile and have her sad expression back. Strip saw that Cruz finally open up to him a little. So he said...

"And not just that...my wife and I even once can't have that smile when...our little girl was...gone. Even until now..neither me or my late wife know where she is.." Strip said. He didn't know why, but he feel the need to tell her that.

"What do you mean..gone?" Cruz asked. Strip just look at her sadly and said...

"She was..taken. From the day she was built..I didn't even get to see her... I didn't want to trust rumors, but...some said that maybe.. maybe, an anti-fans or..one of my racing rivals.. took my daughter away, to let my racing spirit down" Strip said with the same sad tone.

"And.. It did..?" Cruz asked trailing off.

"Yeah.. Lose my racing spirit for the whole season.. Tex even get me to recover a while to perked up my spirit again.." Strip said.

"But..didn't you remember anything..about her?" Cruz asked, rather curious.

"The only things that I know about her..is that she has a pair of brown eyes like mine, has a bright yellow paintjob, and her type is.. CRS Sports Coupe.." Strip said. He might didn't recognized it, but Cruz eyes widened a little.

'Brown eyes? Bright yellow paintjob? CRS Sports Coupe? Then this daughter of him resembles me very much..' Cruz thought. She does have a pair of brown eyes, bright yellow paintjob, and her type is CRS Sports Coupe. 'I wonder..' Cruz thought.

"Why did she has bright yellow paintjob? Aren't you and your wife have blue paintjobs? And how old is she now?" Cruz asked, curiousity wash all over her. Strip saw that Cruz wasn't really sad anymore, so he continued...

"My wife's mother has a bright yellow paintjob. So I guess she gets it from her. If I'm not wrong, she's suppose to turn 21 this year" Strip said. Cruz didn't believe that Strip's daughter, have so many resemblance with her. She is too, going to turn 21 this year. Strip saw that Cruz is finally loosen up, so he asked...

"Well, I don't want to enter anyone personal business, but..do you mind telling me, what's bothering you for around this week?" Strip asked gently. Cruz mind back to her own problem and immediately her sad expression back.

Cruz hesitant for a moment. But her guts told her to say it, so she said...

"My family.. disown me.." Cruz said, and just by that, Strip's calm demeanor change into a shocked one.

"They what... Why did they do that?" Strip asked, confusion wash all over him.

"My family are..always against racing, and.. I win one. And when I become a racer.., they called me and told me that they don't want to see me anymore.. They told me, I'm just...a direspectful kid and..didn't know how to thank the parents that used to take care of me.." Cruz said and then wear her sad smile. "Maybe I am just like what they think.. Don't know how to thank my foster parents that have been taking care of me since I was a baby..." Cruz added with regret and sad tone. But surprisingly, Strip said...

"Maybe your foster parents so against racing.., but what you did.. isn't a wrong thing. They just need to open up their mind a little more about the racing world.. I know they just trying to protect you from the dangerous racing world, but.. to disown you just because you were racing and become a racer? They don't understand you, kid... They may have been taking care of you, but they will never be your real parents, kiddo.. You're not a direspectful child.., you're just showing them what you made up and capable for.." Strip said in his calm and collected demeanor. Cruz doesn't know why, but Strip's voice bring some comfort to her, like a parent do.

"D-Do you think..my real parents..will support me about my racing?" Cruz asked, unsurely. Strip only smiled a little and said...

"They will..because they..will understand you more than your foster parents.." Strip said softly. Cruz become a little relieved hearing that, so she said...

"Okay then.., from now on, I'll take a search around for my real parents!" Cruz said with her usual happy demeanor. "I hope they won't disown me like my foster parents do.." Cruz said with a sad smile.

"Don't worry.., they won't" Strip said assuring her. He didn't know why, but he feel so sure about that. "Come on, let's get you back to the racing center.., you're out for too long, Mcqueen might get worried about you" Strip added and then lead the way to the racing center, while Cruz following behind with a new hopeful feeling inside her.

When they reached the racing center, Lightning quickly drove over to them.

"Cruz? Where have you been? I thought you said you're going to get some rest?" Lightning asked, a little worry. Cruz just smiled sheepishly and said...

"Yeah! I was just..resting at the beach, instead of..in a room" Cruz said sheepishly. Lightning just eyeing her, but didn't ask any further.

"Well, you better rest up. Tomorrow we'll have a training at Thomasville" Lightning said. He nodded to Strip and Strip nodded back.

"Yes, I will" Cruz said when Lightning left. Strip then said...

"Well, good night then, Cruz. And I wish you luck to find your real parents" Strip said kindly. Cruz smiled.

"Yes, thank you Mr. The King. Good night too" Cruz said and they all went to the guest rooms and rest their tired thoughts and tires.

 **The next morning...**

Cruz thoughts are still in her family business, so when she was training with Lightning, she didn't really paying attention and that makes Lightning a little bit irritate and concerned. Mostly concerned though, because usually Cruz always excited about training and paying attention. Seeing she's not really in her racing thoughts makes Lightning feel concerned.

"Cruz, is something wrong?" Lightning asked. Cruz's mind back to where it is and she look at Lightning, slightly confuse.

"No.. I'm perfectly fine!" Cruz said with her usual wide grin. Lightning can't think of anything wrong, so he continue the training.

Lightning didn't feel satisfy with Cruz training results, because she seems to pacing out and think about something else, so her heart currently is not into racing. Strip noticed Lightning's unsatisfied expression and asked...

"What's wrong, Mcqueen?" Strip asked. Lightning sighed and said...

"It's Cruz.. She's..not into the training today. Something distracted her mind while we were training" Lightning said. Strip immediately knew about what distracting Cruz, but he didn't tell Lightning, so instead he said...

"I'll talk to her. Why don't you go and train youselfs for now?" Strip suggested. Lightning nodded and then drove away, while Strip went out to find Cruz. And as he suspected, Cruz is at the Fireball Beach, thinking to herself.

"Hey, Cruz. What're you doing?" Strip said while drove closer to her place. Cruz seems surprised to see Strip, but dismiss it from her thought.

"Hey, Mr. The King! I'm just thinking about 'how to find my real parents' thing. Say, what would you think be the best way to find them? I have so many options, I can't think which one I should use.." Cruz said, ranting about it more. Strip can't help but to chuckle about it. He decided to help her and said...

"What are the top two options that you have in mind?" Strip asked. Cruz seems to think about it and then said...

"I guess it's either DNA test and search it with the modern technology, or I do like in the movies do, searching for my parents while driving around the country and asked some cars I meet along the way, until I find them! What do you think, Mr. The King?" Cruz asked, rather excitedly. Strip chuckled at her excitement.

"Well, I think you better go with the DNA test. You just need to test your oil, fuel, and some other things right?" Strip asked. Cruz nodded and added...

"Yep! And just let the computer do the rest" Cruz said. Strip nodded, but then said...

"Well, it's good that you are passionate about finding your real parents, but don't forget about your passion for racing too. Lightning was worried about you, Cruz" Strip said. Cruz smiled sheepishly and said...

"Yeah.. I noticed that.. But it's hard to focus on training when I focus about something else.." Cruz said sheepishly. Strip just chuckled and said...

"Well, how about you focus on racing when it's training time, and focus on your parents searching when it's breaks time? Sounds good?" Strip asked. Cruz nodded eagerly and said...

"Yep! Will do!" Cruz said excitedly. Strip nodded with a smile and said...

"So, when are you planning to do that DNA test?" Strip asked. Cruz took a moment before she answered...

"I guess tomorrow will be perfect. I have my day off from training tomorrow" Cruz said with the same excited smile on her face.

"Then it settles then" Strip said and Cruz nodded.

 **Tomorrow morning...**

Cruz went to the nearest laboratorium place to have her DNA test. After she was done with the test, she can go home and wait for the result to come out. She was very surprised when she met Strip after done doing her DNA test.

"Mr. The King? What are you doing here?" Cruz asked, confuse. Strip seems surprised to see her aswell, but then he said...

"Well, to be honest.., I'm curious too about my daughter, so..." Strip said trailing off. But Cruz knew what he meant.

"It's okay, I understand, Mr. The King. If I were you, I would love to find my daughter too. So.., you're here to do your DNA test here too?" Cruz asked. Strip nodded.

"Well, I guess it's up to them now. We'll just have to wait for the results to come out" Strip said and they both go home to the racing center, since they are staying there for a little while.

Two weeks have passed after Cruz and Strip do their DNA test. After done practicing, Cruz got a call from the lab. They said they found out about her parents. Cruz almost flip out of her chassis when she heard this. She quickly said thank you and drove over to the laboratorium as fast as the speed limitation allowed her.

When Cruz finally reached the laboratorium, she was surprised to see Strip with the doctor who checked her DNA test, and with another doctor, which she presume that the other doctor is the one who handle Strip's case. Both of the doctors are forklifts.

"Miss Ramirez, you finally here" the doctor that handle her case said.

"Yes, I come as soon as I can" Cruz said. She was still surprised that Strip is here, but Strip seems to be surprise aswell. The doctors look at Strip and Cruz.

"Sir, as I told you on the phone, we find your daughter" the doctor that handle Strip's case said.

"And as I told you, Miss Ramirez, we found your real parents" the doctor that handle her case said.

"Yes?" Strip and Cruz said patiently. It took a moment before the two doctors pointed Cruz and Strip, but they didn't point their client.

"This here is your daughter, Mr. Weathers" Strip's doctor said while pointing his fork to Cruz. Cruz was shocked. She even more shocked when her doctor said...

"And this is your father, Miss Ramirez. While your mother is Lynda Weathers" Cruz's doctor said. Both Strip and Cruz looked at eachother in a very shocked way. Strip is the first one to realise the connection of the dots.

"H-How old are you?" Strip asked still with widened eyes. Cruz, who's in the same condition, gulped and said...

"I'm..about to turn 21.." Cruz said, still shocked. Both of the doctors didn't say anything more, because they know that kind of information IS kinda surprising. Especially when the car beside you is actually your long lost family.

Both of the cars drove to the front door with complete silent, while Cruz's eyes still widened in shock. While Strip's already turn into a relax one. He's still shock but knew that everything are making sense now. The similarities of his daughter physics and Cruz's. The age and his occasional mind that keep telling him to accompany and open up to her. Cruz also feel the same way. So after thinking it all over, Cruz can't hold back and nuzzled Strip's fender with tears of happiness in her eyes. Strip was surprised with the sudden physical contact, but immediately keep calm and nuzzled his daughter back, comfortingly. Cruz didn't say anything, but Strip said...

"I'll never let you go again..., and I always proud of you, Cruz.. My daughter" Strip said softly and gently while keep nuzzling Cruz. Cruz can't even get more happier when she heard that words from her father.


End file.
